Exiting with a big bang

For UCI Chancellor Ralph Cicerone, the last few weeks must have been

chock full of up-and-down emotions.

The public barely had time to digest the news that he had decided

to leave the university in anticipation of being named president of

the National Academy of Sciences when the campus found itself swirled

in controversy over the actions of Muslim students who chose to wear

religious stoles at their graduation ceremony.

Cicerone was at the heart of that as he stood by the university’s

decision to not stop the students from wearing the stoles that bore

the shahada.

It was simply an expression of religious faith, the college

contends, protected by the 1st Amendment.

Cicerone and his school have taken lots of heat and in turn

received lots of kudos for the stand they took.

Most likely, though, they know that, like all things

controversial, this too will pass.

Then back to reality.

The college is going to be much less and will have a big void with

Cicerone no longer at the helm.

The appointment as president of the academy is a major feather in

UCI’s cap. It means the school has come into its own nationally as a

respected institution of scientific research.

And much of that is because of Cicerone.

The chancellor is a respected atmospheric scientist who holds the

United Nations Environment Program Ozone Award related to his work on

preserving the ozone layer.

Named UCI’s fourth chancellor in 1998, Cicerone has watched the

school’s student population grow by 25%. Under his tutelage, the

amount of federal research money to the campus has nearly doubled to

$235 million, the ability to attract top-flight faculty has

increased, and the university’s sports programs have flourished.

Cicerone, who is part of a high-powered academic team with his

wife, Carol, a professor of cognitive sciences at UCI, and his

daughter, Sara, a graduate student in structural engineering, came to

the campus in 1989 as the founding chair of the Department of Earth

System Science. He later served as dean of the School of Physical

Sciences and as a professor of chemistry.

While his appointment to the National Academy of Sciences is a

huge loss for the school, it is anticipated that it will be a boon at

the same time.

“He’ll have such an impact on research agenda nationwide,” said

Henry Samueli, the co-founder of Broadcom and a recent donor of $20

million to the university. “The fact that he came from UCI will help

future research, and they will hopefully get more funding from the

notoriety.”

That is about the only good news that we can find from his

impending departure.

We are, instead, left to wish him the best of luck and

congratulations on a well-earned, prestigious appointment.